---
title: "NASA is Sending a Probe to Jupiter’s Icy Moon to Look for Life"
description: "NASA has announced it's completing the final designs and planning for constructing and testing a spacecraft that will visit Jupiter's icy moon Europa."
date: "2019-08-20"
modified: "2019-08-20"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-jupiter-icy-moon-europa-clipper"
categories:
  - "Astronomy"
  - "Moon"
  - "Science & Energy"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "europa"
  - "jupiter"
  - "jupiter's moons"
  - "NASA"
  - "the digest"
---

# NASA is Sending a Probe to Jupiter’s Icy Moon to Look for Life

![NASA has announced it's completing the final designs and planning for constructing and testing a spacecraft that will visit Jupiter's icy moon Europa.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/nasa-jupiter-icy-moon-europa-clipper.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Icy Moon

NASA [has announced](<https://www.nasa.gov/feature/europa-clippers-mission-to-jupiter-s-icy-moon-confirmed>) that it's completing the final designs, and eventually constructing and testing, a spacecraft that could visit Jupiter's icy moon Europa to look for signs of life. The agency is looking at a launch date as early as 2023.

The mission, dubbed [Europa Clipper](<https://www.nasa.gov/europa/overview/index.html>), involves sending a reconnaissance orbiter to Europa to find out if its salty subsurface ocean has the right conditions to harbor life.

“We are all excited about the decision that moves the Europa Clipper mission one key step closer to unlocking the mysteries of this ocean world,” said Thomas Zurbuchen, associate administrator for the Science Mission Directorate at NASA HQ in Washington, in [a statement](<https://www.nasa.gov/feature/europa-clippers-mission-to-jupiter-s-icy-moon-confirmed>).

## Europa Clipper

Europa, first discovered in 1610 by Galileo Galilei, is only 65 percent the mass of Earth's Moon. Previous evidence suggests that the icy moon features an entire [ocean of liquid water](<https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/jupiter-moons/europa/in-depth/>) beneath a thick crust of water ice. [Scientists hypothesize](<https://futurism.com/nasa-project-life-titan-ocean>) that these subsurface oceans could [meet the criteria](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/jupiter-moon-europa-saltwater-support-life>) to allow carbon-based lifeforms to exist.

The Clipper spacecraft will feature a suite of cameras, spectrometers, and radar to investigate how thick Europa's icy shell is during a total of 45 flybys. According to NASA, the closest planned flyby will have the spacecraft approach Europa to an altitude of just 16 miles.

In April, [NASA tested](<https://www.nasa.gov/feature/langley/europa-clipper-high-gain-antenna-undergoes-testing-at-langley>) the Europa Clipper's high gain antenna that will be responsible for sending back high-resolution images and scientific data.

**READ MORE:** [Europa Clipper's Mission to Jupiter’s Icy Moon Confirmed](<https://www.nasa.gov/feature/europa-clippers-mission-to-jupiter-s-icy-moon-confirmed>) \[NASA\]

**More on Europa:** [*Jupiter’s Moon Europa Has Right Kind of Saltwater to Support Life*](<https://futurism.com/the-byte/jupiter-moon-europa-saltwater-support-life>)

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)